Before personal
computers, the only way that most people could gain
access to computer technology was through time-sharing systems. If you
had a terminal or teletype machine, you could link up with a remote
computer system through the telephone lines. Your terminal sent your
keystrokes to a central computer (called the host) and printed the
results of that computer's program on your display screen or on paper.
Then computers started replacing terminals. While
the personal computer lacks the power of mainframe computers used in
most time-sharing networks, it makes up for that by being devoted to
one user-suitable for all but the largest applications.
But even as the one-computer/one-person model was
becoming the new standard, many people felt we were becoming too
isolated from one another. Personal workstations offer great benefits,
but there's also much to be said for interconnections with our
colleagues and with remote databases.
Consider, for example, the difference between
libraries and bookstores. If I'm interested in a particular author's
book and I want to make sure I can always have access to it, I'll
purchase a copy from the bookstore. If, on the other hand, I'm only
interested in a few passages from that book, I'll go to the library and
borrow a copy.
Computer use can be thought of in the same manner. I
use my personal documents and document-creation tools so often that I
need to have my own copies. On the other hand, reference
materials-especially those that are updated frequently-are better
supplied through a remote "library." The concept of the interconnected
work group, in which several computer users share a single file server
(the library) and a high-quality printer, makes good sense. It connects
users who share interests and tasks, making collaborative work possible.
This work-group concept can link team members who
are separated by great distances. Large computer networks can
interconnect people from various companies, universities, and
countries,
promising to create what philosopher Marshall McLuhan called the global
village.
Imagine the power of a well-designed network. You're
in Europe on business. You connect your portable computer to your
cellular car phone, and within seconds you're linked with the home
office.
While downloading your memos, you remember that you've forgotten to
turn on the water sprinkler system at your house. After finishing your
business, you dial the host computer at your home and enter the water
cycles for your garden. When you finally disconnect, you know
everything is being taken care of.
Too futuristic? Not in the least. Everything I've
just described has been going on for ten years, carried out by an
intrepid group of forward-thinking hobbyists. But such connections are
within the reach of all computer users today.
Yet we're in grave danger of turning this dream of a
networked nation into a nightmare. Computer viruses that infect major
networks threaten to crush their real world potential. Those who
sabotage computers with unwanted programs may successfully keep the
promise of network technology from reaching the rest of us.
The challenges of networking this nation are not
technological, but social. We've allowed a few postpubescent pranksters
to hold us hostage with a few self-replicating programs that can
critically damage data stored in network-connected computers. The fear
of infection will cause fewer people to explore the benefits of
networks.
There are those who suggest that we practice safe
computing by downloading only programs we know to be uninfected. But
this doesn't always protect against viruses. Others argue that we
should develop vaccines to eradicate viruses once they're loaded, or
that we should build interface programs that effectively block viruses
from being transmitted.
None of these approaches will work permanently.
Virus creators like nothing better than the challenge of breaking a new
copy-protection scheme or bypassing security measures to get into a
system.
There's another solution.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States
Constitution guarantees the right of
the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures.... If I've connected myself to a computer network for
the
purpose of communicating with others, and my computer is invaded by
someone's virus program, my personal security has been breached; it's
the same as if someone had broken into my home and gone through my
papers and effects. The only way to stop virus creators is to convince
them that they're committing a federal offense.
If some of these people find themselves guilty of a
federal crime, they might find less humor in their acts. And the
"networks" could become networks once again.